Goes Like Sixty

A 6 HP Gilson restoration comes down to the wire before the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion

This is how the engine looked when Steve and George Alt bought the engine in October 2005.

The 6 HP Gilson shining in the sunlight at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

This engine was completed literally the day before its debut in Iowa. After two hours, and with the help of three guys, Steve and George were this far into the restoration.

The next day a couple more coats of polyester primer were applied. This fills in most sanding marks and some casting texture.

After four hours of work, they called it ready to run.

This photo was taken at 6 p.m. the night before heading to the show.

The old tank had multiple of small rust holes. Steve had a local metal bender make a tank. He then soldered all the seams together and transferred the drain, fill lid and even the fuel gauge, which is just a float attached to a 1/8-inch steel rod to tell how full the tank is.

The sandblasted hopper. Again note the rough casting and the large chunk missing on the top edge. This had to be welded carefully to build that edge back up.

Once the block was smoothed, two coats of epoxy primer were applied.

A final sanding was done to the polyester primer, then a coat of epoxy sealer was applied. Within hours, Gilson Basecoat Green was laid over the sealer and hours later a couple glossy coats of clear coat were applied.

The engine was torn apart for sandblasting and repair of any worn parts.

The sandblasted base. Note the rough casting on the side. To smooth this up it took a lot of grinding.

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